The time has finally come! My guest is Gretchen Otte (@typeonetypehappy on Instagram) and we were finally able to get some time to do her first podcast interview! This was an interview nearly a year in the making, and although many of you know a lot about her, this interview was nothing short of incredible, and had surprises around every turn.

Although she experienced some surprising T1D symptoms at the start of a worldwide trip in New York City, Gretchen was actually officially diagnosed by a doctor on a cruise ship! But her doctor didn’t know much about T1D, so she had to go to pharmacies on the cruise destinations to get her supplies and learn about how to treat her T1D.

Gretchen’s dad is also a T1D, but before her diagnosis they hadn’t shared much about the day to day life with Diabetes until after she was diagnosed.

An avid runner before she was diagnosed, Gretchen recently completed her first marathon since being diagnosed with T1D as a part of the #BeyondTypeRun team during the #NYCMarathon. She outlines how she trained for the marathon, and the challenges that she and other T1D runners had to overcome while preparing for the race.

Gretchen is an incredible representative of living well and happy with Type-1 Diabetes, and I’m glad we have her as a leader in the community. She frequently hosts meetups in Southern California, and also works for Diabetes fashion brand Myabetic. Check out her site at TypeOneTypeHappy.com.

This episode is sponsored by HealthIQ. Health IQ is making life insurance fair by unlocking the value of health consciousness for the 50 million Americans who take responsibility for their health. This is especially relevant for me, because as a Type-1 Diabetic, I have been denied life insurance coverage by other providers even though my A1cs are in range, I eat whole30 and can still kill guys 10 years younger than me on the basketball court. HealthIQ can give people exclusive rates through their HealthIQ quiz, and they even take into account data points from things like fit bits and other trackers. You can learn more about HealthIQ and get a free quote at Healthiq.com/DDT